Fla. Suspect Acquitted of Molesting Boy

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 11, 2003

A man charged with kidnapping and molesting the younger of two brothers who admitted killing their sleeping father with a baseball bat was acquitted Wednesday of most of the charges.

Ricky Chavis was found innocent of 10 molestation charges and a kidnapping charge, but found guilty of a lesser charge of false imprisonment.

Jurors returned the verdict after deliberating about three hours. Chavis, who was convicted in the 1980s for molesting two other boys, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Chavis, 41, was charged with having sex with Alex King, when the boy was 12, in the months before he and his brother Derek killed their father on Nov. 26, 2001.

Chavis had faced a possible life sentence. He was to be sentenced later Wednesday on the false imprisonment charge, with carries a maximum of five years in prison.

The state's case rested heavily on Alex King's testimony that he and Chavis had oral sex in the months before the killing.

"He said that he loved me," Alex testified Tuesday.

Prosecutors say 10 days before the killing, the brothers had run away from home and stayed with Chavis, who lured them with video games, marijuana and pornography. Alex testified Chavis told him if the boys killed their father they could live with him and that he hid them from police afterward.

Chavis is facing another trial Feb. 24 on charges of accessory after the fact to murder and evidence tampering.

The boys and Chavis were tried separately for first-degree murder. One jury acquitted Chavis while another convicted the brothers of a lesser offense: second-degree murder without a weapon.

A judge threw out the boys' convictions and ordered mediation that resulted in both pleading guilty to third-degree murder. Alex is serving seven years and Derek eight at separate juvenile facilities.